Bird Sightings

Seen an interesting bird? Then let us know by submitting a record on our on-line database. It is easy to do but if you need some instructions take a look at the Submit Sightings Page. To view the latest sightings just click on the menu item for Latest Sightings.

Some birds are not uncommon in other parts of the country or around our coasts, but may be in Buckinghamshire. If you want to see just how scarce a particular species is then take a look at the Bucks List.

Although the majority of bird records are submitted by members of the Buckinghamshire Bird Club, we are always pleased to receive records from other birders. We ask that only records that are reliable are submitted. Please indicate if there is any doubt over the identification or origin of an unusual species. For certain scarce species within the county, you may be asked to supply written “field notes” before the record can be accepted as part of the official county records. Forms to use for the submission of scarce and rare species can be downloaded on the Reporting Scarce and Rare Birds page.

Bird sightings should be submitted through the “Goingbirding” database that is linked with this website. Goingbirding has been used since 2009 and contains a huge amount of bird records for Buckinghamshire and are accessible to everyone.

Once you have registered in the Buckinghamshire Goingbirding database and this has been confirmed, you can start to post your sightings. From the Latest Sightings screen just click on Submit for the form below to be displayed.

The interface uses filters on several of the fields in order to make data entry easier, especially when entering data from a mobile device. The following explains how these features function.

The species database can be searched on any of the fields shown below. The first example will return all sightings of Phalarope species since the database started. The second example returns all Herring Gull record from Little Marlow GP during 2016 and where the Notes field contains information on colour ringed birds.

A wild card “*” may be used in the search criteria. This is invaluable when searching within the notes field but may be used in the other text fields. See examples below.

Before you can submit any bird sightings for the first time you must first register in the Buckinghamshire Goingbirding Database. The information required in minimal. Please note that the information given will not be passed to any third parties and that there is no subscription fee.

Apart from the Sightings and the Photos sections, other data that users may want to access is as follows. Click on the links to visit that page :-

Species – A list of all of the species in the Buckinghamshire Goingbirding database. Alongside each species is a field that gives it relative abundance. This field is used when users set the display filters (so only view species that are say “Scarce” through to “Very Rare”). Also species that are set to “Scarce or rarer automatically post emails to the Bucksbirders email group and to the Buckbirdnews Twitter feed (unless flagged sensitive or confidential).

Sites – A list of all of the sites in the database and the relevant map reference. By clicking on the map reference a map showing the site is displayed.

Listing – Here anyone who wishes to publish there own lists may do so. To view/edit the lists visit the Buckinghamshire Goingbirding Lists page. The lists are not generated automatically so users have to manually edit these. It is possible to create lists for :-

Anyone who has registered in the Buckinghamshire Goingbirding database can upload photographs. Feel free to upload record shots as well as good quality images. Record shots are useful for rare and scarce species and may help in terms of confirmation of species ID.

There are a few rules and guidelines :-

The file size may not be larger than 100KBytes

The width of the image may not be more than 600 pixels

Photos should be of wild birds within the county of Buckinghamshire

The file size and width of the image can be controlled using one of many image editing tools that are available. A free software package that deals with both of these functions is the Faststone Image Viewer and is available at this link

Please note that the Buckinghamshire Bird Club reserves the right to delete any of the uploaded images and to use any of the images in the clubs monthly bulletin or the county annual report.

The following is a summary of the main methods in which rare bird sightings are publicised in the county in order to get the news out quickly and allow other birders to see the bird in question.
No one is obliged to inform anyone of their sightings, but many birders get enjoyment from allowing other birders to view a scarce bird that they have found. We have a good information network in Buckinghamshire, so that any scarce species found can be broadcast within minutes of the initial find, enabling other people to enjoy the sighting.

Species which are rarely recorded in Britain require a description to be submitted to the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC). They assess records of species, and some distinctive sub-species, which rarely occur in Britain.

Species that are scarce in Buckinghamshire but not requiring submission to BBRC should be sent to the County Recorder Suitable forms for this purpose are available on the following links: Word FormatPDF Format